One Moment
by whatittakes
Summary: All it took was one moment for Rose's life to fall to pieces. It'll take much longer than that to put it back together. Will Albus, Dominique, Roxy and the rest of the Weasley family be able to do it? And will Scorpius Malfoy help, or simply hurt her even more?


It seemed very remarkable, how much could change in a short amount of time. One year. One summer. One day. One moment. That's all it took.

I was walking down the street with Hugo, a warm summer night, coming back from the nearby movie theater. Our hair was the same as always, matching brilliant red-orange curls, identical pale skin dotted with dark freckles. He held an empty cup of soda in one hand, the straw hitting the flimsy paper cup with his every step, while his other hand was tucked into the pocket of faded blue jeans. I had a half-empty bag of popcorn in my right hand, saving it for Dad who adored theater popcorn since Mum introduced him to it years back. The thumb of my left hand was hooked through my pair of cut off shorts. Our shoes slapped against the warm pavement of the sidewalk, cars occasionally zooming by.

Both of our wands were at home, what use would an under age wizard or witch have for them in a muggle theater?

If only our parents had been paranoid in _that_area of our lives. Paranoid enough to make sure we knew to _always_have our wands. Constant vigilance and all. But the fact is that a short walk to a theater and back in a muggle town wouldn't seem dangerous, or even slightly intimidating, and so we didn't have our wands.

Five simultaneous cracks pierced the night, and I immediately grabbed Hugo closer to me as the figures closed in, circled around us. They were dressed in muggle robber get up, all black with ski masks, but the familiar skull and snake emblem of Voldemort and his Death Eaters proudly placed upon their shirts.

I screamed. They grabbed us. We're torn apart. I looked at Hugo, our cornflower blue eyes met for a single moment, and then he was moved out of my sight. Seconds of familiar, nauseating spinning, indescribable pain, and I passed out.

One year. One summer. One day. One moment. That's all it took.

I came to consciousness some unknown time later. I heard blankets rustle as I moved to sit up. The cushion underneath me must have be a bed. Something crinkled, and I quickly grabbed at it, a paper gown I must have been dressed in at some point. I couldn't grab anything else, and I couldn't understand why there was nothing to see. I fought to open my eyes, and found myself able to feel the motion of blinking, my eyelashes brushed my skin. I waved my hands in front of my eyes.

Nothing.

The darkness is suffocating.

For a moment, I wonder if there is simply nothing to see, if perhaps this is death. Then, someone gasps. I instinctively turn my head in the direction.

"Rosie!" My mother's voice cries, crackling slightly. I'm suddenly enveloped in her warm arms, her familiar smell of fresh grass and parchment comforting.

"Mum," I said, my voice cracking, "why can't I see anything?" She paused for a moment, and gently stroked the top of my hand.

"I'll go get your father, Rosie." She said, and then she was suddenly gone, footsteps on tile floor ringing out in my world of nothing.

"Rosie," My father's voice sighed, and then he hugged me. I latched on to him, fighting the rising panic that was threatening to take ahold of me.

"Why can't I see?" I demanded. Dad gulped. Mom sighed. In my head, I picture them sharing a look. They've done it so many times before that it isn't hard to imagine.

"Those men," Mom said, "those men were a sort of new guild of Death Eaters. They somehow knew you were going to be there." Her voice wavered. "They took you into their base, of sorts. They used a spell on you, Rosie. A terrible, terrible spell. It blinds the person in the most painful way possible. If used repeatedly for long periods of time it can also make the person deaf and mute. For the circumstances, I suppose you were very lucky."

I blinked in shock, still straining my eyes in a futile attempt to prove them wrong- to see something. Nothing happens. I remain blind.

"How'd you find us in time?" I asked, wondering how in the world Hugo and I managed to be found in some secret headquarters of Death Eaters. Mum took in a sharp breath, Dad let out a single dry sob.

"The aurors had been tipped off, we had a man on the inside," Dad explained, his voice shaky and filled with pain, "and, I'm so sorry Rosie, but there isn't an 'us' that we found in time." His voice broke, and he started to sob. I felt Mum draw me into her arm, putting her head gently atop mine. I felt her tears drip onto my own face.

"Hugo was already dead." Mum said, her voice filled with more pain than I ever imagined it could.

No. Hugo. Hugo couldn't be dead. He's my brother. We watched that cheesy movie together and laughed at the terrible special effects. My world broke into pieces, shattered into tiny fragments that could never be pieced back together.

One year. One summer. One day. One moment. That's all it took.


End file.
